Which to use
“ma” is a contraction and “miau” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,420
- “ma” frequency rank
- #34,812
- “miau” frequency rank
- 38232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ma | miau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contração do pronome pessoal do caso oblíquo me e a | minhau |
Where the eye mixes ma and miau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ma with miau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ma is /mɐ/ while miau is /miˈaʊ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ma is recorded at frequency rank #3,420, classified as acontraction, pronounced /mɐ/. miau is at rank #34,812, tagged as anintj, pronounced /miˈaʊ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?).
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 38232, this pair ranks #28,238 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ma vs miau
Shared letters: am. Private to "ma": -. Private to "miau": iu.
"ma" · 2 letters · shape CV · "miau" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- miau ← imau · maiu · miua · mmiau
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ma" and "miau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ma" or "miau"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "miau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,238 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ma" and "miau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs miau". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #28,238 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.